Atlantic City’s embattled casino workers are apparently ready to go where the jobs are as the new MGM National Harbor casino in Maryland is reporting a large numbers of applications from Atlantic City workers.
MGM Resorts International CEO James Murren told CNBC’s “Power Lunch” program that National Harbor seems to be benefitting from Atlantic City’s decline when it comes to attracting experienced casino workers.
“It’s not going to help the underperforming properties, that’s for sure,” Murren said of Atlantic City casinos. “What we’re seeing happen is many of the dealers and employees are applying to work at National Harbor. We’ll probably have 60,000 applications for the 4,000 new jobs we’re adding in Maryland.”
MGM has already stated a goal of having 40 percent of the National Harbor’s jobs be filled by Prince George’s County Maryland residents, suggesting that competition for the remaining jobs could be fierce.
Less clear, however, is exactly what type of Atlantic City workers is applying. Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal Casino announced it was closing October 10, which will put about 3,000 casino workers out of jobs. The Taj has long been the weakest performing Atlantic City casino and has had nearly two years of bankruptcy proceedings and labor strife.
Its closing follows four other casino properties that closed in 2014 putting another 8,000 casino workers out of jobs. In that climate, MGM – which recently acquired full ownership of Atlantic City’s most successful casino the Borgata—scheduled a job fair for MGM at the property in Atlantic City. Local reports said more than 300 people attended the job fair.
However, Atlantic City’s seven remaining casino have benefitted from the downsizing of the resort’s casino marketing, and most have been posting strong revenue and profits. Several Atlantic City casinos even began adding staff at the beginning of the summer season.
In the interview with CNBC, Murren said he expects MGM National Harbor to be the most profitable casino resort in the United States outside of Las Vegas. It will feature a 308-room hotel tower, 125,000-square-foot casino floor, 3,000-seat theater, two lounges designed by Las Vegas-based Clique Hospitality, 18,000 square feet of retail, a 10-eatery dining hall and specialty restaurants, 27,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, a spa and a 5,000-space parking garage.
Meanwhile, MGM National Harbor announced its casino operations team. The casino operations team will be led by Alex Alvarado as vice president of slot operations. Alvarado is responsible for the development, merchandising and layout of the slot strategy during the construction phase, as well as the hiring of gaming staff. Once the resort opens, Alvarado will oversee slot service, M life desk, technical operations and slot performance strategies.
Prior to joining MGM National Harbor, Alvarado served as director of slot operations at Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica, Miss. and director of slot operations at Hollywood Casino in West Virginia. Alvarado also spent time managing slot operations at both MGM Grand and The Mirage in Las Vegas.
The rest of the team includes: Jeffrey Elmore, vice president, table games; Johnny Grooms, director, poker; William Zeralsky, vice president, national marketing; Cynthia So, Vice President, Asian marketing and Dominic Marci, vice president, customer development.
